Oakland/L.A. post-punkers Wax Idols put out an excellent first album called Discipline & Desireon Slumberlandin 2013. Now the band, fronted by the huskily voiced Heather Fortune, has unveiled the smoldering “Lonely You,” a wearily lovelorn ditty about letting go and looking up that sounds like a lost late-’80s goth-pop jam. It seems to say that sometimes you have to set everything on fire to see what’s left. American Tragic is due Oct. 16 via Collect.

YG’s searingly honest tales of growing up in tough Compton were matched to catchy G-funk beats on his excellent debut, My Krazy Life. “Twist My Fingaz,” the first song revealed from the upcoming Still Krazy, has an awesome throwback feel without feeling limited, grooving effortlessly as YG does his thing, gets his drink and dance on and doesn’t sweat the trouble outside.

I’m back after a lil’ break! Here are some of my favorite local SF/LA area songs and videos of the past couple of weeks:

together PANGEA – “Snakedog” video

We’ve been waiting for some time for the next full-length from this band (who are now calling themselves “together PANGEA” rather than just Pangea, I guess to avoid confusion with other similarly named acts?). Still waiting on when that album will come out, but for now we’ve got the first new taste from the L.A. band, the slithery rocker “Snakedog.” Sounds like one of those dumb SyFy Channel movies! But it’s even better than that! I love these guys, can’t wait to hear more. The Snakedog 7” is out now on Harvest Records, and they’re on tour this fall, hitting Bardot in Hollywood Sept. 9.

I know I write about these guys a lot, but they seriously have the corner marked on slightly detached yet totally engaging synth pop. “Lenses” is a dreamy title track from their excellent recent release, and since their last video was such a sexy treat, I thought I’d post this one too. Watching it and listening to it sort of feels like being completely wasted and high at some weird after hours place where you start seeing things and you’re not sure what’s going on.

Wavves’ latest album album mostly ditches the “King of the Beach” surf-punk notions of previous releases for a big, warm, alt-rock embrace that does wonders to highlight the quality of Nathan Williams’ songwriting. “Sail to the Sun” starts out with sparkling synths and moves into a thumping, surging rocker. “Demon to Lean On” is built for rock radio, with a catchy, two-note riff leading into its soaring chorus. It’s reminiscent of mid-’90s radio gems from the likes of Weezer and their brethren, but it’s also smartly built, with watery guitars and castanets seeping beneath the surface of its Pixies-inspired, quiet-to-loud dynamics and Nathan Williams’ paranoid lyrics. After starting out boldly, the album takes dark turns that should please fans of Wavves previous work, including the lo-fi attack of “Mystic,” which buries Williams under stacks of distorted sound before engaging with a singular synth riff. But he always brings it back to some of his hookiest songs yet, like the soaring title track, which makes use of backup vocals by Jenny Lewis and delivers another instantly recognizable, could-be radio hit from 1996. If only all pop-punk, surf-alt or what have you was this catchy, smartly written and unafraid of hooks! Afraid of Heights succeeds as Williams’ clearest bid yet for crossover success, yet it doesn’t sacrifice his essential slackery appeal. File it next to your Dookie, Blue Album and Doolittle records and embrace the fuzzy pop of Afraid of Heights.

Whew, there was a ton of crap released this week. I’ll have to make this snappy.

Victory – “Play It” video

I have never heard of Victory before, but he’s LA-based multi-instrumentalist Robert Fleming and he makes really catchy, well-produced lo-fi pop. His video for “Play It” is similarly minded with its VHS vibes. It’s not just more ’80s worship, though — there are some serious psych waves moving through that fuzz bass. His self-titled EP is out now; his first full-length record is due April 23, just after SXSW! That’s kind of coming up, guys, we’re into 2013.

Sacramento-based Tera Melos have a new album called X’ed Out coming April 16 via Sargent House. “Tropic Lame” is streaming now via RollingStone. I’m such a sucker for this tasteful, shoegazey alt-rock via Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr.but also lesser-known bands like American Analog Set, Lilysand Ides of Space. “Tropic Lame” is not lame. It seriously rocks.